Charged Clans
by Parodoxical Shift
Summary: AU. Where it rains, the vampires gather. The Cullen clan is joined by another clan. Bella's clan. E/B


Disclaimer: You're probably sick of reading these. I do not own anything related to the Twilight franchise, nor am I in any affiliations related to it.

_From the moment that I'd been "reborn," I'd always spent my time trying to fit in. Even though food wasn't scarce, I had to be careful. Kills were not easy to hide. If there was a dead man, lying on the ground, his body savaged and ripped, his bones showing through, it could've been said that he was mauled by a large animal. The police would come, people might speculate, everybody would be on the lookout for an animal for a while, but there wasn't much different about that. But a man lying on the ground, his skin chalk white, all of his blood sucked out of his body would be a different matter. People would gossip, come up with the weirdest explanations for the death of that man. Maybe it was the chupacabras, or God, or even a mad scientist who wanted a vial of blood for his experiments._

_ Or a vampire._

_ Then, I met Tom. Back then, it was only him and Jean. They welcomed me to join them, and I accepted. It was a sudden, hasty decision. I'm still not quite sure why I had accepted. But it was the first time I'd ever really felt that I fit in. I've never regretted that decision yet._

* * *

"We'd better move."

The trees drifted lazily in the breeze. A lone branch swooped down, lightly tapping the glass window. It was a rare, beautiful sunny day, and because of that, all five of us were cooped inside.

I turned toward Tom. "Why?"

The blond-haired vampire sighed. "You know why."

Well, of course I did. Brett was becoming too old for his 25 years, I was supposed to be in college, and Brian looked a bit small for a senior. I still didn't want to go. Port Arthur, Texas seemed too much of a home to me. I didn't want to leave it.

"There's still a rainy place that we could go to," Tom continued. "Forks, Washington. After that, I suppose it's Ketchikan, Alaska."

I groaned. "Did you tell Brett, or Brian, or Jean yet?"

He shook his head. "I told Jean, and Brian probably figured out already. Brett doesn't know."

"Okay." I turned away from him again, toward the window where the sun shone brightly. It seemed to mock me now. _Bella, you can't come out anymore. You're always going to be in hiding_.

* * *

"This is it?"

Jean was walking through the shabby halls of our new house. Well, not really shabby. Only shabby to her standards.

"Why not?"

Now Tom stepped in, locking the door behind him.

"It's so," Jean waved her hands around, trying to find the right words, "dismal."

I quickly glanced around the room, my heightened senses taking in every minute detail and saving them for future reference.

"We could always repaint it," I offered.

"Yeah," Brett said. He stepped into the room, followed closely by Brian.

"And we could rewire the lighting, if you wanted to."

Tom laughed. "No, I don't think there's any need for that."

Jean nodded. "I think I'll be able to get used to it."

"At least it's rainy enough over here. We'll be able to get out pretty often."

"Well, that's good. We don't want Bella or Brian to miss too much school."

I rolled my eyes. "Right, Jean. Like we actually have to pay attention in class."

She laughed. "Well, I guess that much's true. But we do want to keep a sort of semblance of a regular family.

"And we don't want to stand out too much," Tom added. "When you go to school, Bella, don't take the Jaguar. Take the old pick-up truck. It'll help you fit in more."

I rolled my eyes. "I know, Tom."

Tom had been "created" when he was 24, in 1695. Even though Brett was technically older than him (he'd been 28 at the time of his change), Tom assumed the role of "father-figure." Because of that, he assumed a bossy know-it-all attitude at some times.

Jean smiled. "Don't worry too much. I don't think anything will be out-of-the-ordinary here."

Brett laughed, the sound tinged with a note of bitterness. "Yeah. Just another life. Another set of people to get used to, to somehow convince them that I'm Tom's brother."

Everyone chuckled at that. One of the hardest thing to do in our rather diverse family was to convince others about out rather exotic family history. I could pass for Jean and Tom's daughter, although both looked a bit young to be having teenage girls. We could pretend that Brian was adopted, since he was Chinese, and looked nothing like Jean or Tom. Brett was a bit of a problem, though. Close family friends didn't usually live with said family, and "cousins" seemed a little too complicated. Brett didn't look like Tom or Jean's brother, either, and we weren't really sure if the "adopted" excuse would work.

"Oh well," Jean sighed. "If you really wanted to, you could be up in Alaska or somewhere else again."

"Nah. It's fine."

* * *

The school parking lot proved that it was a very good idea to drive the old red truck to school. There was one car that caught my eye. A silver Volvo rose above all the other vehicles in the section.

Kids loafed around, talking casually with their friends. Occasionally, they glanced toward me, but they didn't gawk too much. At least, not as much as most people did.

There was a slight tension in the air, one that made me shift with unease.

Brian climbed out of the car after me, shutting the door behind him. His brow was furrowed slightly.

"Bella," Brian muttered, so low that even I strained to hear him.

"What?"

He glanced around, slightly nervous. "I don't think we're alone."

As if on cue, five figures emerged from the dense crowd.

At first, I was confused. No human I've known had such smooth skin. Not only was it smooth, it sparkled ever so slightly. No, these creatures were not human.

I gasped.

Their eyes were golden.

**A/N****: Probably no one gives a crap about these anymore. Anyways, I apologize for any OOCness on Bella's behalf. Personally, I don't like her very much, and that screws up my writing a bit. I have a constant problem with rushing everything in my stories, as you might have noticed. Please tell me if I have in this story. CC welcome, flames accepted. Thanks for reading.**


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